Loose-leaf book



Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

er OFFICE- RALPH c. wnrrnocn, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, essrenoin T0 E. n. WI-IITLOOK.

AND M. n. wHIT'LooK; BOTH or nos ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

LOOSE-LEAF BOOK.

Application filed January 2, 1920.- Serial No. 349,056i

To all who-m may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH G. IVHrrLooii, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Los Angeles, county of Les Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Books, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a loose leaf book in which the pages will be held in register when the book is opened or when it is closed. A further object is to provide improved means f ir opening and closing the book. Afurther object is to provide means for holding the ring frame to the cover plate.

In the drawings forming a part of this application Fig. 1 is a plan of a book embodying my invention, the book being in an open position. Fig. 2 is a plan of a detached sheet. Fig. 8 is an end view of the opening and closing mechanism taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. F ig. ri a section on the line 14 of Fig. 1 with parts broken away. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1 showing a side view of the sheet registering block, frame and the cover plate, a frag; ment of the cover being shown. Fig. 6 is a detail.

Referring to the drawings the cover 10 has secured in the back thereof the cover plate 11 which has lugs 12 struck up therefrom arranged in pairs. The upper ends of each pair project away from each other as shown in Fig. 6. The ring frame consists of the side members 13and 14 to which are attached the half ring members 15 and 16. Each pair of half ring members is connected by a plate 17 through which the half ring members pass in an elongated cut. The ends of plate 17 turn inwardly and form pockets 18in which the side members have a sliding movement when operated. The edges of plate 17 between these pockets turn downwardly and then toward each other forming plate lugs whose inturned ends pass beneath the .outturned ends of lugs 12, thereby securing the-ring frame to the cover plate. The endsofthe side members turn, toward each other and are pivotally united at each end. At one end is my improved opening and closing device which consists of a lever arm 21 which is rockably secured at one end on one of the side memcross-section;

bore 13. A link 20 is rockably secured at one end on the other side member 14 and is connected by a rivet 22 to lever arm 20 at a point which is alittle below the plane which passes through the center of the side members when the book is closed. On the outer end of lever arm 21 is a lip 20 below which I secure a bar 24 which projects toward the member on which lever 21 is mounted and has a lip 25 on end thereof, which bar rests on the end joint between the side members and when pressed upon at its free end, forces the end of lever arm 21 upward and brings rivet 22 above the plane which passes through the side members and partly unlocks the ring members. The full opening of the ring members can be completed by raising the end of lever 21 until the rings are opened.

To cause the sheets to register when the book is open I provide each sheet on its inner edge with notches 26. I show two notches but there may be more) which are about equidistant from each other and from the ends. I secure connecting plates 17, best shown in Fig. 5 without cuts upon the side members and attach registering blocks 27 to these plates. Plates 17 are secured to cover plate 11 like plates 17. These blocks may be of fiber or any other suitable material and fit into the notches in the sheets and keep the sheets from askewing upon the rings and thereby keep them in alinement. By this construction all reference characters on the margins of the sheets, as the letters of the alphabet in a ledger, are always in sight and the sheets are prevented from moving when being written upon. By the addition of bar 2% greater ease is attained in opening a book.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a loose leaf book a sheet having registering notches in the inner edge in combination with a ring frame having registering blocks secured thereto, said blocks having edges which are a segment of a cirole, the projecting edges being V-shaped in 2. In a loose leaf book having a back frame in which are side members, an opening and closing device comprising a lever arm rockably secured at one end on one of the side members; a link pivotally connected to said lever arm and rockably secured at one end on the other member; and a bar pivotally connected to the outer end of said lever arm.

3. In a loose leaf book the combination of side members pivotally connected at their ends; half ring members secured to said side members; connecting plates having inturned ends forming pockets in which are received said side members, said plates hav- 10 ing at their sides downwardly projecting 

